Background

Climate COPs

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is one of the three ‘Rio Conventions’ adopted at the first Rio Earth Summit in 1992. Since it took effect in 1994, the Convention’s overarching objective has been to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. With 198 Parties, the Convention has near universal membership.

The UNFCCC has designed an international governance system to facilitate the adoption of agreements between the Parties to act on climate change. As such, the UNFCCC has led to the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, which established binding emission reduction targets for some developed countries, and the Paris Agreement in 2015, whose goal is to limit global warming to well below 2ºC, preferably to 1.5 ºC, compared to pre-industrial levels.

The supreme governing body of each of the three treaties (UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement) is the respective Conference of the Parties, where all signatory States are represented. Therefore, the implementation of the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement is developed by a set of decisions taken by all parties within a complex architecture of bodies presided by the COP of each treaty and supported by the UNFCCC secretariat. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provides regular assessments of the scientific basis of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation, informing decisions.

Each year, the three COPs meet to review the implementation of the climate treaties and to take the decisions needed to promote their effective implementation. Since the COP20 in Peru, the EESC has been actively taking part in the COPs, as part of the EU delegation and with observer status, engaging in meaningful conversations, bilateral meetings and side events to represent organised civil society in Europe in the fight against climate change.

Biodiversity COPs

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is one of the three ‘Rio Conventions’ adopted at the first Rio Earth Summit in 1992. Entering into force in 1993, the Convention’s overarching objective is the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. The Convention has been ratified by 196 Parties.

To adopt decisions, the parties to the CBD rely on the expertise of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), an independent intergovernmental body established to strengthen the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being and sustainable development.

Under the CBD, Parties must develop and enforce National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) to translate the CBD’s objectives into action at national level, incorporating biodiversity into national decision-making and relevant plans, programmes and policies. Each COP sets the direction for global biodiversity policy, including strategies, action plans and monitoring frameworks. Since CBD COP15, the EESC, as part of the EU delegation with observer status, has participated actively in the COPs, engaging in discussions, consultations and side events to represent European organised civil society in the global effort to protect biodiversity.